[center][b]~Traverse Town~[/b][/center]
In First District, Ashe's actions got the attention of the invading soldiers and now more of them were turning their attention to her. But something stopped the men before they could attack as a group. It was the Masked Man, having caught a glimpse of Ashe for himself, he now also had an interest in fighting her, but appeared to insist on doing so alone. The other men appeared to adhere to the Masked Man's wishes, none of them daring to invoke his anger and so they backed off and returned to their previous actions. The Masked Man, not appearing to be wielding any weapon, walked slowly in Ashe's direction, remaining eerily silent and coldly stoic. When he was close, he reached a hand to his side and appeared to conjure up a curved sword from the Darkness as he then took a hauntingly familiar stance.

"Now's our chance!" some of the town's security were springing into action, and a group of them thought that now was a good opportunity to catch the Masked Man off guard while he was watching Ashe. Unfortunately for them, the Masked Man was not so easily surprised. As the group lunged for him, the Masked Man made a gesture with his free hand to cast a spell: Zero Graviga. Suddenly the attacking group couldn't move as magical forces lifted them off the ground and held them helplessly in place in the air. The Masked Man struck, lunging straight through the trapped group with his sword and appearing to kill them all in a single stroke. But a moment later that proved not to be case as the bodies of the men reacted more like they had been struck several times each instead of just once. The brief distraction gone, the Masked Man focused his full attention on Ashe... and lunged.


Back in Third District, the hooded Imperator watched the battle against his forces with what seemed like minimal interest. So far it looked to be no different than any other resistance he had encountered in previous battles. But then, something mildly interesting finally happened. Two young people were actually putting forth a legitimate resistance against the Dusks. Rather than be intrigued, though, the Imperator became increasingly annoyed by this. More resistance meant this mission would take longer, and the Imperator had better things to do than spend more time here. And so, the Imperator made their move. Having grown tired of watching from his perch atop the corner of the stairs, the hooded figure literally leaped into the fray. In midair, the hooded person performed a front flip [i]and[/i] summoned his shield to bare just in time to slam it front first into the pavement. When he did, it released a blast of cold that trapped both the young people in ice in an instant. They weren't dead, but would still be aware enough to realize the trouble they were in.

"How amusing, that a pair of worthless peons thought they could possibly emerge victorious against the brilliant mind of Vexen." by this time, the Imperator had pulled back his hood to reveal a smug-looking man with long blond hair and almost elvish looks, "But look at where you are now. Trapped, at my mercy. I can kill you at my leisure now... or perhaps add you to my growing 'collection'? I've all the time in the world to decide." Vexen's gloating soon proved to be detrimental. An oversized shuriken flew in from the shadows and would have struck Vexen square in the back had he not managed to deflect it with his shield in time. The shuriken seemed to have a mind of its own as it returned to the girl who threw it.

"You talk too much!" announced the ninja in a loud voice, "But let's see how your "brilliant mind" stacks up against the Great Ninja Yuffie!" fortunately for Ambrose and Raily, Yuffie didn't come alone. Another woman, this one with longer hair and a pink and white dress made her presence known and broke the ice spell with her own magic.

"Are you two alright?" Aerith asked, her voice soft and sweet as always, "Don't worry, you aren't alone now. The enemy is in First District as well, but Leon is making his way over there now."

[center][b]~Marchen~[/b][/center]
The hooded person said nothing in response Mira's demands. Even as she threatened him, he remained perfectly calm and showed no reaction whatsoever. It was only when Mira went to attack him that the Imperator finally made a move, "Useless..." he said in a cold voice as he whipped around to face the young mage. As her fiery whip came closer he reacted by seemingly throwing his heavy book out in front of him. Except... was the book growing bigger? The tome seemed to become more giant sized as it came closer to Mira until it was able to close its pages around the mage like a monster closing its massive jaws around its prey. For the mage, things sort of blacked out.

She found herself in some kind of void. There was absolutely nothing around her, at least not until grey creatures started to appear and attack her. Every once and a while, the Imperator himself would appear briefly, but only to taunt Mira for he would simply vanish whenever hit by a spell or attack, and appear again, "You may as well surrender..." he advised in a cold tone, "...A novice like you couldn't hope to match me in a contest of illusions." by now the Imperator appeared to have removed his hood, revealing what looked like a teenager with short blue hair and bangs that appeared to cover most of his face.

[center][b]~Dawn Island~[/b][/center]
The invading force remained unchanged by the time Yon-Ging arrived outside. He would be met by a group attack from the grey creatures. For now, the hooded figure commanding stood still and did not get involved, "Resistance is futile. Soon enough the fleet will arrive, and your island will fall just like the rest." he removed his hood to reveal to a man with long pink hair, "But if you must insist on fighting..." he held out his hand and summoned his wicked-looking scythe, "...then I hope you have prepared yourself to face the specter of death."